the white house fiscal cliff package. the white house's proposal to avoid the big tax hikes and spending cuts that are going to happen in january, unless something is done. that proposal has come under heavy criticism from republicans who say wasn't serious. how speaker john boehner said he was flabbergasted. mitch mcconnell reportedly laughed out loud and in this debate over reducing the debt, the president is pushing for an additional $255 billion in spending. he wants those higher taxes to spend more, which is leading to some criticism. joining me now is brad blakeman, the former deputy to george w. bush. and chairman of the south carolina democratic party. a deal that is all about the republicans desire to cut back on the debt and deficit -- why would the president be proposing $255 billion in war spending? >> well, he's not. what he is proposing is shifting spending priorities. after those cuts, shifting priorities, and by the way -- this is infrastructure development. this is to make sure that people who have gone t